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- Construction on Mill Creek Canyon Road starts May 1, impacting access for two summers.
- The roughly $30 million project includes road repairs, expanded trailhead facilities and some bike lanes.
- Completion is expected by the end of 2026, with construction pauses for winter recreation access.
MILLCREEK — Construction will begin soon on the upper section of Mill Creek Canyon Road, which will also impact some access in the popular canyon over the next two summers.
The Upper Mill Creek Canyon project will finally get underway on May 1 after a few years of planning between the U.S. Forest Service, Salt Lake County and Millcreek. Crews are slated to repair the road beyond the canyon's winter gate, which extends a little more than 4½ miles toward the Little Water Trailhead.
No vehicle, bicycle or pedestrian will be allowed beyond the winter gate toward the end of the road, said Adam Shaw, a district ranger for the U.S. Forest Service, as he stood by the canyon gate Thursday. A few trails, including the Little Water and Old Red Pine trails, will be closed, as well as any access to the Little Water Trail from Dog Lake.
However, Shaw said all other trails will remain open. The Pipeline and Upper Pipeline trails will "serve as the main routes between the upper and lower sections of the canyon," allowing for access to "most of your favorite spots," county officials noted.
Once underway, crews will work to repair the "distressed and eroding" roadway during the closure, according to a project description. It ultimately received $19.6 million in federal funds, most of which came from the Federal Highway Administration's Federal Lands Access Program in 2021. Local entities chipped in over $9 million in matching funds, said Helen Peters, director of regional planning and transportation for Salt Lake County.
"(It will) make sure that the water is being directed in the right way," she added, pointing to current environmental concerns.
The project also calls for expanded trailhead facilities to be constructed to add more parking, while uphill bike lanes will be added "where possible" to account for the growing traffic up the canyon over the past few years. Improvements that could lead to new transit access in the future will also be included, should that be added someday.
The project is slated to be completed by the end of 2026, with a winter construction hiatus between Dec. 15 of this year and March 15, 2026. Access to winter recreation sites will be available during the pause in construction, but access will be affected again next summer.
County officials will continue to post construction updates online in case there are any major changes over the next two years.
"While it's going to be frustrating not being able to use this beautiful space for the next couple of years, it'll be so much better when we get done," said Millcreek Mayor Jeff Silvestrini. "We want to make this place safer, and one of the things that the road improvements will do is make it more accessible for emergency vehicles if they have to get up here."
